See how bitterly and shamelessly Satan hates the newborn Son of God. He incites King Herod to massacre the infant boys of Bethlehem, in his bloody rage to cut down Jesus. But see even more the lengths to which God the Father will go to protect His Son. He tells Joseph to take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt, the nation that had once enslaved God’s people, Israel.
So soon after the joy of our Lord’s nativity warms our hearts, we hear of mothers weeping for their sons, the baby boys of Bethlehem. We hear a voice in Ramah, weeping and wailing. The voice is Rachel’s. She was the wife of Jacob, whom God renamed as “Israel.” And so all Israel, all of God’s true people, weep bitterly for her slaughtered children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.
So soon after the angels sing, “Glory be to God on high,” the devil bares his yellowed fangs of hatred. So soon after the Magi bring their gifts to Jesus, Herod, the Israelite king put in place by the Romans, sends Romans soldiers in a foolish attempt to murder the Christ-child.
It was only three days ago that we celebrated Christmas. Now, see how quickly the brutal facts of history strip away our sentimental pictures of the quaint and pretty manger. We are brought to the dirty, earthly realities of our Lord’s birth and early life.
The manger was not some mystical, beautiful place where our Lord slept; it was a dirty, rough-hewn animal’s feeding trough. The swaddling clothes were not lily-white baptismal robes but long strips of cloth, torn from worn and used clothing to wrap the Christ-child. Muck and manure filled the stable cave. And born into the thickness of our fallen world, our Lord’s birth inflames all the furies of hell. Satan knows that our Lord taking on human flesh is a life-and-death business, as he responds in that way.
Look at how low Satan will go to keep us human creatures enslaved, hurtling downward into the abyss of hell. Innocent blood flows from Satan’s hands. Roman soldiers rip baby boys from their pleading mothers, slicing them with the sword as Satan seeks to silence Jesus and stop Him from saving His fallen creation.
This is just the beginning of what Satan will do to stop our Lord from taking our sins and dying His death, all so we may have His life. These baby boys of Bethlehem were the first to be martyred because of Jesus. They were the first to give up their lives for the Son of God.
They were linked to Jesus simply because they were born in the same village as He was. And that was more than enough for Herod and the devil. The infant boys died because of the Son of God, and gave their lives so He could live.
Yet, God still marshals the hosts of heaven to defend the infant Son of God. For our Lord Jesus Christ, who came to die for the sins of the world, must now live. He must now live, later to spill His blood on His terms, later to spill His blood also for these little ones whom Herod had slaughtered.
Jesus was the sacrifice for their sins, too, so they could have a home in heaven. Were they not Jewish boys circumcised under the Old Covenant, looking forward to their Savior Messiah? Yes, yes they were! And so, God brought them into His Church, using the means of grace that He had set up in His Old Covenant.
Yes, little children are special to our Savior, the Savior who once was a little Child Himself. We know Jesus called the little children to Him. We know He placed His hands on them and blessed them. He told His Apostles to disciple others by baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and by teaching them to keep all that He has commanded. And this discipling includes children, even infants.
And so, even today, Jesus still gathers His children. Like circumcision in the Old Covenant, in the New Covenant, Jesus uses baptism. Paul spoke on this in his letter to the saints at Colossae:
In Christ, you were also circumcised. This wasn’t a circumcision performed by human hands. This was a removal of the corrupt nature in the circumcision done by Christ. This happened when you were buried with Christ in baptism, in which you were also raised with him you through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. Even when you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your corrupt nature, God made you alive with Christ and forgave us all our sins. [Colossians 2:11-13]
In holy baptism, God washes away sin and claims the youngest of infants as the redeemed possession of the Triune God. That’s why Christians bring their children to Jesus through baptism and raise them in the holy Christian Faith. Yes, Jesus shed His blood for children, even for the infant boys of Bethlehem.
God had preserved His Son from the wrath and hatred of Herod and the devil. Yes, Jesus, would die one day, but not now, not in Bethlehem. He would die outside Jerusalem, outside the holy city, where He was meant to die. He would die on the cross as THE Sacrifice for the sin of the world. He would die for you and me, for our children and grandchildren, and for their children and grandchildren, as well.
Jesus would die to restore our innocence that Adam lost in the Fall. Jesus did all this to free us from sin and reconcile us to God the Father. Jesus would die to redeem our fallen human race from its bondage to sin, death, and hell, so the Holy Spirit would make us right again to God through faith in His Son.
To be in bondage to Satan means eternal death, even if you live long and well in this world. But to be freed by Jesus’ holy and precious blood means eternal life, even if your days in this world come to a short and brutal end. That was the case with the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem.
None of us are guaranteed tomorrow. None of us knows whether we will be around when the sun goes down this evening. No one except God knows what awaits us, whether sickness or health, pleasure or pain, riches or financial ruin.
But as Christians, we do know this: the Triune God will never leave us. God has bound our human race to Himself by sending His Son to take our human nature into Himself. God became Man–not on some whim–but so He would have a body to offer on the cross for your sin, all so you could be forgiven.
God became Man, so He could have a body that could be baptized in the Jordan River, making the water of your baptism holy, making it a life-giving water, rich in grace. God became Man, so He could give you His body and blood in His Supper for you to eat and drink for the forgiveness of all your sins.
God became Man, so He could suffer as you and I suffer, making our sufferings holy. Because of Jesus taking on our flesh, you and I are not alone in our sufferings. As the Apostle Peter writes, as Christians we share in the sufferings of Christ.
Jesus our Savior, the man of sorrows, is familiar with grief, and stands by us. He comforts us, strengthens us, and enables us to endure in the faith. All this Jesus does until that day when He delivers us from all our sufferings, from the sting of sin, and the curse of our mortality. Then, He will receive us into His keeping in eternity, as we await the resurrection of the Body.
As believers in Christ, we may one day have to suffer for the faith. The martyrdom of the Holy Innocents reminds us of this. We must through many trials enter the kingdom of God, as the apostles of our Lord preached. The Apostle Paul wrote to Pastor Timothy that all who want to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will suffer.
And our Lord pronounces that when others insult, persecute, and falsely accuse you of evil because of Him, you are fortunate. You are fortunate because Jesus is with you, and you are with Him, in whom you have the full forgiveness of sin. You are fortunate because of Jesus, because you have an eternal salvation that the devil himself cannot snatch away from God.
So, if God should allow suffering and persecution to come your way, know that you are not alone. Christ suffered and was persecuted for you. Stephen, Paul, Peter–11 of the 12 apostles, and the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem, suffered and were martyred, as well.
Because of Jesus, because He paid for the sins of the slaughtered boys 30 years after they were martyred, they are now in heaven. They were part of God’s first covenant, brought into that covenant through circumcision. Because of Jesus, we also have the sure and certain hope of heaven.
But we are part of Jesus’ second covenant, the New Covenant, because we are on the other side of the cross. We live in the fulfillment of the Old, all the while, all the saints, in both the Old and the New Covenants, await their final fulfillment on the Last Day, when Christ returns to usher in the new heaven and earth.
Know this: when your earthly days in this fallen world come to an end, you can die in peace. You can die, trusting in the One who suffered and died for your forgiveness, whom the Holy Spirit raised for your justification. You can die knowing God’s loving kindness and mercy, knowing you have a home that God has prepared for you. That is your future, made real to you today, in Christ Jesus. Amen.
